"The Blood Fiend Scripture..."

Li Xuanxuan pondered for a moment and vaguely recalled that Li Tongya had mentioned this cultivation technique before. It seemed to be a technique of Jin Yu Sect, with the first chapter being Fourth Grade, containing only the Qi Cultivation part of the technique.

"It seems that among Devil Cultivators, too, techniques are used as threats, controlling each other in layers. After all, Devil Cultivators are selfish. Were it not for the coercion of the path, they would have dispersed long ago..."

"There must be more to it."

Li Yuanjiao paused slightly, acknowledging that not all Devil Cultivators held hopes of breaking through to Foundation Establishment. There must be some connections between these Devil Cultivators or some method to control the lower ranks from above.

"It's not strange for the Three Sects and Seven Doors to possess Demon Path Techniques, but it's interesting to find a technique of Jin Yu Sect on a Devil Cultivator within the territory of Green Pond Sect. Could it be that the Devil Cultivators of Green Pond have secretly defected to Jin Yu Sect?"

With doubts in his mind, he spoke softly,

"Or is it that... the demonic calamity was tacitly condoned or even deliberately incited by Jin Yu Sect and Green Pond Sect, but if so..."

"What good would that do them!"

Dressed in black, Li Yuanjiao stared intently at his father, quite puzzled,

"The Noble Families and Loose Cultivators have supported Green Pond for many years, only to be slaughtered by Devil Cultivators. Next year, Green Pond Sect will have to send people to re-enlighten the survivors, and the areas ravaged by the demonic calamity will be listless for decades. It will take nearly a hundred years for small clans and Loose Cultivators to rise again; isn't this like giving the hen that lays the eggs to someone else to enjoy!"

"Perhaps... the demonic calamity has other uses."

Li Xuanxuan shook his head, diverting his thoughts, and read through several dark jade slips one by one.

They were the Blood Scroll of Sacrificial Life used for escape—likely the blood storm used by that Devil Cultivator as he fled—followed by the scripture for reincarnation "Ghost Infant in the Belly," and the Blood Transmutation Governing Meridian Scripture for the transition from Immortal Path to Demonic Path...

In total, five Taoist Techniques, all requiring human blood and spirit mechanism, and heads filled with resentment—no good things. The two had only read the summaries, roughly understanding the secrets of the Devil Cultivators' practice.

Devil Cultivators also start from Fetal Breathing, but after condensing the Fetal Breathing into Six Wheels, they do not immediately commence Qi Cultivation; rather, the Six Wheels merge into one extraordinary mansion.

Once this extraordinary mansion forms, the Jueque Court, Shengyang Mansion, and Sea of Qi Acupoint unify, and the body is no longer the foundation of cultivation, but becomes like that of a Buddhist Practitioner—a vessel in the sea of suffering.

The ultimate mystery of this is indescribable, as though a peculiar demonic power is present, drawing others' Spiritual Senses into it and involuntarily directing them along the pathway laid out in the cultivation technique. Fortunately, this force was not strong, and both of them came to their senses after just a moment of bewilderment.

Li Xuanxuan, not considering himself to be of particularly strong will, dared not look further and hurriedly let go.

"An extraordinary mansion... So the art of 'Extraordinary Mansion Sharing the Same Furnace' means this..."

Li Yuanjiao had also heard the words of Murong Xianan when he had traveled to the south back then. He spoke of cultivating a person's head within oneself, among various other dissimilar methods. In any case, practices of cultivation under the heavens all follow their path, and one cannot exhaustively investigate them.

"But just a few days ago, I went to the market at Guanyun Peak, and those four Foundation Establishment Devil Cultivators besieging Guanyun Peak radiated the light of an Immortal Foundation... what does that mean?"

As Li Yuanjiao pondered, Li Xuanxuan silently picked up the black jade slip depicting the Blood Transmutation Governing Meridian Scripture.

"Bang!"

With a movement of his hand, Li Xuanxuan crushed the jade slip recording the Blood Transmutation Governing Meridian Scripture to dust, gathered the remaining four slips, and said to Li Yuanjiao,

"Find a secret chamber to store them. Having these techniques for reference will ensure our younger generation is not unprepared when facing Devil Cultivators."

Li Yuanjiao nodded, picked up a jade bottle from the desk that was one size larger than the usual elixir bottles, light aqua in color.

As his Spiritual Sense delved inside, he found a mouthful of clear, bright Spiritual Water, profound and icy cold, of a light black color, about half a bottle in quantity. It sloshed about as if a single entity, emitting waves of chill that left Li Yuanjiao momentarily absent-minded as he whispered,

"Heaven and Earth Spiritual Water?"

Li Xuanxuan quickly took over to examine it and shivered from the cold, but his experience was not much superior to Li Yuanjiao's. Although he could identify some Spiritual Objects in the market annually, he had never seen Heaven and Earth Spiritual Water.

"Perhaps it is? Or it might be some special kind of nature's Spiritual Energy..."

He hesitated for a moment, watched as Li Yuanjiao carefully tucked it away, and quickly said,

"Stow it away in the family's treasury for safety's sake."

The remaining elixirs were sparse, with only a few usable bottles; even two were blue bottles—one filled with blood Qi, and the other with resentment Qi. After an estimation, they contained the essence of over a thousand people. There were also heads and organs from Qi Cultivators intended for casting spells; he ordered someone to hurriedly bury them.

Not sure how to handle the two blue bottles, they were stored away for now. The remaining thirty-odd Spirit Stones were the main prize, easing Li Yuanjiao's concerns significantly.

It must be said that Devil Cultivators, with their plundering and pillaging, amass considerable wealth. A typical Qi Cultivator might only carry five or six Spirit Stones. This one possessed a whole thirty-five, enough for the Li Family to comfortably navigate the next five years.

"It's a pity we couldn't keep the Devil Cultivator's Storage Bag. It was spacious and undoubtedly valuable! The Devil Cultivator didn't seem strong... I wonder where he stole it from."

Li Xuanxuan shook his head in regret. Storage Bags are the easiest to tamper with, and even the Storage Bags of several members of the Li Family's direct lineage had been rigged. With the situation urgent, how could Li Xuanxuan consider the Storage Bag that good, let alone dare to keep it?

After dividing the spoils, they felt much better. Clan soldiers were already arriving downstairs, followed by an old monkey about five feet tall, with a face full of wrinkles and eyes that were bright and intelligent, silently bowing.

Having healed, the old monkey had shed its fiery poison, and only now did Li Xuanxuan realize its age was not minimal. Having cleaned off the soot, its fur was snow-white, with a small stature, not reaching up to Li Xuanxuan's chin, looking at him full of gratitude.